This Day in History (February 1)

Date: 31 January 2017 - 19:57

News ID: ۳۶۲۲۵

Today is Wednesday; 13th of the Iranian month of Bahman 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1438 lunar hijri; and February 1, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1025 solar years ago, on this day in 992 AD, the famous Greek Muslim general and statesman of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim dynasty of Egypt and North Africa, Jowhar bin Abdullah as-Siqili, or the Sicilian, died shortly after his disastrous defeat in battle near Syria – his second unsuccessful bid to conquer Syria. Earlier he had conquered Egypt and the built the city of Cairo including the famous al-Azhar Mosque and academy. Born a Christian on the island of Sicily near what is now Italy, he embraced the truth of Islam and joined the service of the Fatemids, soon rising into prominence as "al-Kateb” (the Chancellor) and "al-Qa'ed” (or the General). He subdued North Africa as far as the Atlantic coast and then turned towards the east to wrest control of Egypt from the Ikhshidid Turkic governors of the Abbasid caliphate. He built Cairo as the new capital of the Fatemids, by publicly bearing testimony in the Azaan, or the call to prayer, to the imamate of Imam Ali (AS) after the Prophethood of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). The phrase "hayya ala khayr il-amal", meaning ‘hasten to the best of deeds’, which was dropped from the Azaan by the second caliph, was also revived and echoed from the minarets of "al-Azhar", which is a derivative of "Az-Zahra" or the Radiant, the famous epithet of the Prophet’s Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema (peace upon her).
727 solar years ago, on this day in 1290 AD, with the assassination of Sultan Kai-Qobad at the instigation of Jalal od-Din Khilji, the Turkic Slave Dynasty of Delhi ended after a rule of 84 years in most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Jalal od-Din Khilji, who was from Zabul in eastern Iran and was appointed chief of the army by Kai-Qobad, had first contrived to assassinate the vizier, Nizam od-Din, before consolidating his power and finally seizing the throne to establish the short-lived Khilji Dynasty. Six years later, he himself was killed by his nephew Ali Gurshasp, who ascended the throne of Delhi under the title, Ala od-Din Khilji, and expanded Muslim rule throughout India.
685 lunar years ago, on this day in 753 AH, Malik Maqboul Telangani was made minister in Delhi by Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and bestowed the title of Qawwam ul-Mulk. Born as Kattu Yugandhar in a noble Hindu family of Warangal in the Deccan, and made commander of the Kakatiya Kingdom with the title Ganna Nayaka by King Prataparudra, he was captured in battle by the army of the Delhi Sultanate, and embraced the truth of Islam. Because of his sincerity and loyalty he won the confidence of Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq and was appointed governor of Multan (in today’s Pakistan). His administrative abilities in the Punjab won praise and he was later sent to his native Deccan to deal with the rebellion of his former overlords, the Kakatiyas. On return to Delhi he rose rapidly in ranks to the extent that the next king, Feroze Shah Tughlaq, made him finance minister and then vizier (prime minister) with the title Khan-e Jahan. He mastered the Persian language and accompanied the Sultan on the expedition to Gujarat and successfully subdued the rebels. Feroz Shah would refer to him as "my brother” and during the Sultan’s six-month absence in Sindh, Khan-e Jahan Telangani ably administered Delhi. He never exceeded his powers, and had a strong desire to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which he couldn’t undertake because of state responsibilities. He built several mosques in and around Delhi and on his death his son, Jauna Khan, inherited his position as vizier. Built in 1388 AD, his tomb adjacent to the Sufi shrine of Seyyed Nizam od-Din Awliya, was the first octagonal mausoleum in Delhi. The only other octagonal mausoleum predating it in the Subcontinent is the Sufi shrine of Shah Rukn-e Alam in Multan.
394 solar years ago, on this day in 1623 AD, the Portuguese naval commander, Ruy Friere, surrendered to the Iranian navy at Qeshm Island at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. On February 9, the Safavid emperor, Shah Abbasid I, liberated the strategic Hormuz Island in the Strait of the same name, and thus drove out the Portuguese from the Persian Gulf. Some 20 years earlier, Iran had also liberated Bahrain from the Portuguese occupiers.
304 solar years ago, on this day in 1713 AD, the Kalabalik-e Benderi (which means ‘Tumult in the Port’) results from the Ottoman Sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized. The skirmish was devised to remove Charles XII of Sweden from the Ottoman Empire after his military defeats in Russia. It took place on Ottoman territory, in what is now the town of Bender in Moldova. After the Swedish defeat by the Russians at the Battle of Poltava on 27 June 1709 and the surrender of most of the Swedish army at Perevolochna three days later, Charles XII fled together with a few hundred Swedish soldiers and a large number of Cossacks to the border areas of the Ottoman Empire for safety, and spent a total of five years. As an unwelcome he was assaulted by scores of Ottoman soldiers who captured him and the remaining fighters. After some time as a prisoner, Charles XII and his soldiers were released when news of the Swedish victory in the battle of Gadebusch reached the Ottomans. Charles then started to plan his trip back to Sweden. In Turkish the word for "crowd" or "tumult" is "kalabal?k”, which after the incident has become a Swedish loanword, "kalabalik”, with the meaning "confusion" or "great disorder".
308 solar years ago, on this day in 1709 AD, British sailor, Alexander Selkirk, was rescued after being marooned on the uninhabited Mas-a-Tierra Island for 5 years. His story of survival was widely publicised when he returned home, and partly became a source of inspiration for the writer Daniel Defoe's fictional character Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk spent four years stranded on the Juan Fernandez Islands – he lived on Mas-a-Tierra [Closer to Land] which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. It  is interesting to note that Defoe’s novel was also inspired by the Latin/English translation of the book "Hayy ibn Yaqdhan” by the Spanish Muslim polymath Ibn Tufail, who drew the name of the tale and most of its characters from an earlier work by the Iranian Islamic multi-sided genius, Abu Ali Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
267 solar years ago, on this day in 1750 AD, the Georgian prince, Bakar of the Mukhrani branch of the Bagrationi dynasty, died in Russia. He was the son of King Vakhtang VI who left him in charge of Kartli (eastern Georgia) during his absence at the Safavid court of Persia from September 1716 to August 1719. His position was recognized by Shah Sultan Hussain Safavi, who invested him in 1717, with the title of Shah Nawaz, a crown, sword, gold insignia, and robe of honor. The Iranian monarch also appointed him commander-in-chief of the Persian army and governor-general of Azarbaijan. When the Ottoman armies invaded Georgia in 1723, taking advantage of Shah Sultan Hussain Safavi's defeat by the Afghan invaders, Bakar attempted to negotiate, but eventually followed his father into exile in Russia in July 1724. In Moscow he was engaged in cultural activities, in addition to his involvement in Russian diplomatic and military service.
203 solar years ago, on this day in 1814 AD, the bloody Routier Confrontation took place in the region of the same name between the 160,000-strong armies of Prussia, Austria, and Sweden and the 42,000-strong army of France led by Napoleon Bonaparte. In this battle, the French troops, which were demoralized and outnumbered, could not resist against the enemy and the battle ended with Napoleon’s failure.
101 lunar years ago, on this day in 1337 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Seyyed Ismail Sadr, passed away in the holy city of Kazemain in Iraq. He was born in Isfahan to the scholar of Lebanese ancestry, Sadr ad-Din Saleh. After preliminary Islamic studies under his brother in Iran, he left for Iraq to study at the famous Najaf Seminary. He mastered theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and other Islamic sciences under prominent ulema such as Ayatollah Shaikh Morteza Ansari and Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi. He soon became the leading marja’ or source of emulation. Seyyed Ismail Sadr is the ancestor of the well-known and respected Sadr family spread over Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon. His elder son, Sadr ad-Din Sadr was the father of Seyyed Imam Musa as-Sadr of Lebanon, who was imprisoned in 1978 and later martyred by Mo’ammar Qadhafi of Libya, while his second son, Haidar as-Sadr, was the father of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer as-Sadr, who was martyred by Saddam in April 1980. His fourth son, Mohammad Mahdi as-Sadr was the grandfather of Iraqi religious-political leader, Seyyed Moqtada as-Sadr.
99 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, Russia adopted the Gregorian Calendar after the Communists under Valadimir Lenin had seized power to divert the Russian revolution from its course. During Czarist rule, Russia followed the Julian Calendar that used to begin in March, and not January.
78 lunar years ago, on this day in 1360 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar and poet, Ayatollah Mirza Abu-Abdullah Shaikh al-Islam Zanjani, passed away at the age of 51. He was a product of the Islamic seminaries of Isfahan and Najaf, and settled in his hometown Zanjan. He travelled to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, where the famous al-Azhar Academy appreciated his scholarship, and printed some of his works on the holy Qur'an in Arabic.
59 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic. Most Syrians resented the merger. The union of Syria and Egypt was dissolved in 1961 following a coup in Syria. Egypt kept the name United Arab Republic until 1971.
49 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, the execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan, on the orders of the US occupation forces, was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the war the Americans had imposed on Vietnam.
38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, the US and its surrogate, the illegal Zionist entity, expressed discontent at the historical remarks against Washington’s meddlesome policies in Iran at Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery the day before by the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Israel was aghast at Imam Khomeini’s return to Iran from 15 years of exile, in view of his firm support for the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people. Meanwhile, masses of enthusiastic people flocked to the place of residence of the Imam at Alawi High School in Tehran to catch his glimpse and if possible, to meet him. The Beloved Leader delivered a keynote public speech, saying that monarchic rule was against wisdom and human rights, and that every nation has the right to take its destiny into its own hands.
26 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Afghanistan and Pakistan were hit by an earthquake that killed at least 1,200 people, devastated wide areas, and made several thousand people homeless.
7 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, over seventy Shi’a Muslim pilgrims were martyred and more than a hundred others injured in the Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, when an unsuspecting woman given a bag full of explosives by Takfiris was blown to bits through remote control by terrorists backed by Saudi Arabia, as part of the US-Zionist plot to destabilize Iraq.
4 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, over 30 Shi’a Muslim worshippers were martyred and more than seventy others injured during prayers in a mosque in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, that was targeted by Saudi-backed terrorists through remote control after an unsuspecting person was bribed to tie up a belt of explosives of which he was not aware.
4 solar years ago, on this day in 2013 AD, Dr. Mohammad Reza Baba Mokhayyar, Father of Veterinary Medicine in Iran, passed away at the age of 71. Born in Ardabil, northwestern Iran, after graduation in veterinary sciences from Tehran University, he left for France where he did his post-graduation in Oceanology from Paris University. On his return to Iran, he became member of the Academy of Culture and Professor of Fishery Diseases at Tehran University. Among works written by him mention could be made of "Pisciculture and Fish Diseases, "Fishes of the Persian Gulf”, and "Agriculture and Natural Resources”.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)
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